08.4.14

Some photos from our trip to Malibu last weekend. Seriously, why does it take so long to drive there from Hollywood? Forever. But it is one of my favorite drives, winding through Sunset and then up the coast. Somehow we arrived at a trail with no one else on it. On a Saturday. Unheard of. Cheers to secluded hikes!

06.4.14

I finished the Tiny Tea Tox by Your Tea last week so I want to share my experience. You can read my original post here. The tea is meant to be consumed 3 times a day, 30 minutes before meals for 14 days. It is said to help with digestion, bloating, food sensitivities, cravings, mood, and complexion.

Let’s start with the taste. The tea smells amazing, like some kind of patchouli hippie candle. Unfortunately, I do not like putting anything floral or perfumey in my mouth. I struggled with the flavor at first but it slowly grew on me. It kinda has to since you’re drinking it 3x a day. In the afternoons, I started brewing it in a mason jar and then adding ice and lemon and sometimes maple syrup or honey. That was crazy delicious but maybe the tea works better if you drink it hot? Not sure.

Your Tea recommends an eating approach/plan that I followed because my sister Amber said we should we really go for it. It encourages hot cooked food for all meals to aid in digestion. I struggled with this at first as I’ve been on a long running smoothie-for-breakfast-salad-for-lunch kick. Hot foods during the day tend to weigh me down and make me sleepy. By the second week, I was comfortable with hot lunches but went back to smoothies for breakfast.

After the first week of the tea tox I felt ok, but no noticeable differences in digestion, bloating, complexion, or cravings. I experienced horrible headaches during week 1, but they subsided by week 2. The second week is when I really started to hate my life. The headaches were gone but I felt like my digestion got even worse. By the end of the week, I was more bloated than I have been in a long time. Not good.

I’m not delusional. I wasn’t expecting to drop 10 lbs and look like Jennifer Anniston. But I definitely was not expecting to look and feel worse. I honestly don’t think it was the “detox” effect where my body was getting rid of toxins either. The Tea Tox is not that intense and I am already pretty healthy day to day. My sister said she could not tell a difference either way, but was very disappointed that 7 of her tea bags broke before she could use them.

In the end, neither of us had a great experience. I would consider trying it again in the future to see if my symptoms were just coincidence, but I won’t be doing it anytime soon. The Tea Tox is far less money and effort than a juice cleanse or any other detox program I have seen and the reviews tend to be positive, so it might be worth a try if you are curious. I’ll stick to lemon water and smoothies. Thanks.

20.3.14

Right after our San Francisco trip, I hopped back on a plane to Oregon to meet my mom and sister for a couple college visits. My younger sister Brooke is in the midst of full-blown college prep extravaganza and I could not be more jealous. We toured University of Oregon and Oregon State and it was awesome to be able to start our trip with a basketball game. Go ducks!

Brooke is so put-together and mature. Sometimes I forget she’s younger than me, until I start making Mighty Ducks references and she has no idea what I’m talking about.

I absolutely loved University of Oregon (Oregon State was just ok). The campus tour blew me away. Seriously, I was ready to apply.

It looks like UofO will have some tough competition with a few other amazing schools she is considering. In the end, the time I got to spend with Brooke and my Mom made this trip so special. That time is rare the older you get, so I soaked up every minute of girly family time.

And of course we couldn’t leave without getting Voodoo Doughnuts. Although in hindsight, we probably should have got an entire box of just maple bacon.

13.3.14

My sister Amber texted me the other day to see if I had heard of the Tiny Tea Tox. It’s all the rage, apparently. Within minutes we were both ordering the 14 day tox and complaining (ok I was complaining) about giving up our morning smoothies. The best part about the tox is that you still eat, but they recommend warm cooked foods as they are easier to digest. So why the Tiny Tea Tox? According to their website, this special herbal blend tea will assist with:

reducing weight

easing bloating

increasing digestion functionality

improving skin clarity

increasing energy levels

alleviate issues associated with food intolerances

Sign me up, right? I’ll check in after the 14 days to talk about my experience, and hopefully we can get Amber to weigh in as well.

09.3.14

And this patio! We lucked out with this rental – great location, inexpensive, garden patio, records, and they gave us a bottle of wine because it was Valentine’s Day!

Ben and Heatherly

Sunday Morning at Tartine (yes, we ate all of that)

Afternoon View

Crazy that it’s taken Neil and I so long to make our way up to San Francisco. We didn’t realize when we booked our tickets that we’d be there for Valentine’s Day, but it worked out perfectly for us to have a romantic day to ourselves in the city. The rest of the weekend was filled with so many good friends and delicious meals.

Sorry for some of the (obvious) phone pictures. They were too cute not to share!

03.3.14

About 8 months ago I stopped updating this blog for a few reasons, but mostly I just got lazy. I don’t thiiiiink I’m lazy anymore and I miss documenting the fun stuff we do (and books and girl products and food). Hopefully you do to! A million things have happened since my last post, but I want to share a few pictures from a recent camping trip at the San Mateo Campground at San Onofre.

After battling some crazy wind for about 45 minutes, we finally got our tent set up and promptly poured ourselves drinks. As you can see, this campground isn’t the most scenic, but it’s so close to the beach and it’s extremely easy to access. Our friends who were already there had stayed the night before and hiked to the beach that day. We took our time getting there, but made it for a beautiful sunset.

If you live in southern California I highly recommend this campground. It was cheap, easy to find from the I-5, and really fun. We even invented a game called Moon Frisbee in that field. And then we got in trouble by the nicest park rangers on earth that obviously didn’t want to make us stop but had to. Moon Frisbee forever.

Stick around – I’ve got some more posts coming that have pictures of our actual faces!

25.6.13

Recently I was offered 2 free nights accommodation on Catalina Island, but it had to be used by the end of June. We were unsure if we should even go since we had just been for my birthday and we are trying to save money. But it was too good to pass up, so we packed a bunch of food, wine, and books and did the second time around on a budget. It was a little sad not having electric bikes, but we managed to have a great time.

03.6.13

I just finished The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. That book is still sitting really heavy with me. I can’t tell you anything about the book. In fact, I barely even read one synopsis before reading. All I know is this is an important book. Please read it. And then call me, so we can talk about it because I had to freak out by myself more than a few times.

Currently I’m reading Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad. She wrote one of my all time favorite books, Look at Me, which is trippy and amazing and I highly recommend. It was honestly hard for me to get into this book at first, but now I’m loving it. I also just found out HBO is turning it into a show which is exciting.